RIP Donald Barrett of Venice Beach

We received email about this starting yesterday but did not want to post up until the police had identified the resident. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Mr Barrett’s family and friends from all of Venice.

40-year-old Donald Barrett of Venice was walking across the street when he was fatally struck and dragged by a Metro bus about 850 feet down two streets in Venice yesterday afternoon. “There does not appear to be any evidence of a crime and there are no charges pending at this time,” explained the LAPD in a statement today. “The driver of the bus was transported to a local hospital for treatment of an undisclosed medical condition.”

Over the phone, West Traffic Division Investigator Olin Osborne said it was unclear if Barrett was crossing the street legally or not. “At this point, preliminarily, we’re not sure. We do know that the light was green, but that particualr crosswalk is controlled by a button,” he said, saying the button needs to be pressed in order for the walk signal to be activated.

“The witness got a very, very good look at what happened,” Osborne continued. “Of course, there could be a witness we don’t know about.” He is also awaiting to view the onboard camera footage from the bus.

The incident happened yesterday around 4:30 p.m. when the Metro bus made a right turn on northbound Pacific Ave. from westbound Rose Ave. The bus continued a few blocks to Navy Ave. where it took another right turn before being flagged down by the witness at Main St.

Yo! Venice! was started by two friends, Keri and Bret, to create a communal blog for residents of Venice Beach California.
In today’s world of RSS feeds, they felt that a blog would be a perfect place for people to let others know how they view the Venice Beach community through words and pictures. It is hoped that this site will become a communal blog with many people submitting stories for all in the community to share.